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Phil Mitchell
Name: Phillip James Mitchell Born: 19th January 1961 Occupation: *Barman *Mechanic *Pub landlord *Businessman Backstory Phil is the eldest child of Eric and Peggy, He has lived an unhappy childhood, due to his father's abusive behaviour, which continued until Phil was old enough to fight back. He and Grant are close and become known for their thuggish behaviour. Phil Mitchell is one of the longest running characters having appeared on EastEnders for 22 years (excluding Steve McFadden's 2004 break). On EastEnders (1990-2003, 2005-onwards) Phil and Grant first arrive on the square as the owners of the Arches, an automobile repair shop. They get involved in various dodgy deals and scams including counterfeit money, dog-racing and boxing. Since their arrival, Phil becomes involved in many bizarre storylines. While Grant is in prison, Phil comforts his sister-in-law, Sharon Watts, and the two begin an affair. It is not until Phil and Kathy Beale's engagement party in 1994 when Grant discovers the famous affair by listening to the cassette indicating a conversation Sharon had with Michelle Fowler about Phil. Grant plays the tape in the Queen Vic where the party is taking place, angering Kathy, and leading to Phil chasing after Grant. They fight and Phil ends up hospitalised. As a result, Peggy, worrying about her sons, resides in Walford. Despite the affair, Kathy does not break off the engagement and the two marry in 1995. They give birth to Ben Mitchell, but Phil feels neglected and becomes addicted to alcohol, therefore neglecting Kathy and Ben. It becomes too much for Kathy and she and Ben leave Phil to reside in South Africa on April 1998. Phil attempts to stop them, but her older son, Ian Beale, persuades Phil that Kathy and Ben are better off without him. Phil agonises over the loss of his son. A year later, Phil and Grant become involved in a drug deal and robbery. The plan goes awry when Phil discovers that Grant had slept with Kathy (who returned for Ian's wedding). Grant admits it was for revenge for Phil and Sharon's affair. When they escape in a nearby car, Phil orders Grant, who is driving, to stop the car. Grant refuses and Phil shoots the steering wheel, leading to Grant to plunge in the River Thames. Phil is rescued, but Grant is nowhere to be seen. However Grant has also survived and escapes with his daughter Courtney to Brazil. Before Grant's exit, Grant gives Phil the deeds for his half of the Queen Vic, but Phil sells it to Dan Sullivan to annoy Peggy due to her favourism towards Grant. Phil and Dan soon become enemies when Dan tells the cops about a motor scam involving Phil and Phil orders Dan to sell the part of the bar to Peggy. Phil's girlfriend, Lisa Shaw, has a miscarriage and is fired by her boyfriend. Phil then has an affair with Lisa's friend, Mel Healy. Mel regrets it and reconciles with Steve Owen, sparking jealousy for Phil. Lisa suggests that a child will improve things, but Phil does not care, so he admits his and Mel's fling. Mark Fowler, Lisa's new boyfriend, suggests that Lisa pretend Mark is the father to which Lisa agrees. On 1st March 2001, the day of Steve and Mel's wedding, Phil gets shot. Among the suspects are; *Ian; for their constant bullying *Mark; who intends to avenge Lisa *Steve; who knows about Phil and Mel's fling and has had a gun stored in his desk drawer and is briefly arrested for the police know about the gun *and Dan But Phil soon confronts the real culprit; Lisa, who used Steve's gun. However, he promises to frame Dan for the shooting. Dan is arrested, but at the trial, Dan is cleared and kidnaps Mel, thirsty for revenge. He threatens to kill her unless Phil and Steve pay him 200 grand. Phil and Steve team up and rescue Mel, but Dan flees with the money. When Sharon returns, she and Phil reunite and work together at the Queen Vic. Sharon is reluctant to have a kid with Phil, but informs Phil that he is the father of Lisa's daughter, Louise, not Mark. Lisa refuses Phil access to Louise. Steve and Mel persuade Lisa and Louise to move to California with them. She agrees, but changes her mind and asks Steve to return Louise to her. He does not, resulting in a car chase when Phil follows him to rescue Louise. Steve crashes the car into a wall. The car catches fire and Steve cannot open the doors due to the surrounding walls. Phil rescues Louise, but before he can save Steve, the car explodes killing Steve. Phil makes it clear to Lisa, who has married Mark, that it is Louise he wants and is uninterested in Lisa. He organises a christening in order to legalise Louise as a Mitchell rather than a Fowler. Lisa, who is assumed as a nanny Phil has hired, hears Phil's relatives stating that the mother is mentally unstable. It is the final straw for Lisa and she wisks Louise away to reside in Portugal, with the help from her new friend, Sonia Jackson, and Phil's second cousin once removed, Jamie. Phil sets off to Portugal and returns to Walford later with Louise, leading to Jamie and Sonia to believe that Phil may have killed Lisa. Phil falls in love with Kate Tyler/Morton, unaware that she is an undercover detective, investigating the apparent murder of Lisa. Phil confesses that he did not kill Lisa; he just confiscated Louise, because he did not believe Lisa was fit enough to look after Louise, though Lisa did feel suicidal. When Kate loses her job, Phil discovers she is working for Jack Dalton, a crime boss. Phil saves Kate after she was ordered killed by Jack. Jack then orders Phil to kill Dennis Rickman, Sharon's half brother, but the two team up to do away with Jack for freedom. Phil and Kate marry, but Lisa turns up at their wedding. She demands access to Louise and fails yet again to shoot Phil. Den Watts volunteers to help Lisa. One night, Den plans an armed robbery and persuades Phil to join, but it is a set up. He leaves Phil trapped in the warehouse to be arrested by the cops. Kate allows Lisa to take Louise, since she cannot stop her legally. Phil and Kate's marriage ends as a result. Phil swears vengence against Den. He escapes from jail and confronts Den. However Den gives Phil money to survive his fugitivity. 18 months later, Phil, unaware that Den has been murdered by Chrissie Watts, returns to Walford in need of more money. He ambushes Ian, who contacts the cops to arrest Phil. However the cash closes after Grant pays a witness to change his testimony and Phil is released. Local gangster, Johnny Allen, angers Phil when he threatens Peggy. Dennis gets involved when Phil tells him that Johnny has threatened Sharon. Dennis attacks Johnny for this so Johnny has Dennis murdered, leaving Sharon distraught and Phil feeling responsible and vowing to make Johnny pay. Phil and Grant confront Johnny, but he escapes and a car chase ensues. The brothers' squabbling allows Johnny to capture them and Johnny orders Danny Moon to kill them. However, Jake kills Danny and Johnny surrenders. In 2006, following the death of Kathy and her partner, Gavin, Ben returns to England and moves in with his half-brother, Ian. Phil and Ben spend time together and they slowly bond, eventually leading to Ben moving in with Phil. Phil starts dating Stella Crawford, but she mentally and physically abuses Ben, manipulating him into persuading Phil to propose to her. Ben reveals the abuse during the wedding ceremony, and Stella flees to an abandoned warehouse with Phil in pursuit, where she kills herself by jumping from the roof. Phil proposes to his girlfriend Suzy Branning when she falsely claims that she is pregnant. Phil does not believe his friend, Shirley Carter, when she tells him that Suzy is conning him; he stays with Suzy until he discovers she has schemed with his malevolent uncle, Archie Mitchell. Although troubled by lapses in alcoholism due to numerous family upsets, Phil begins to settle into a relationship with Shirley, who becomes a mother figure for Ben and Louise, who is staying with Phil while Lisa is away. Phil is parted from both his children in 2010: Ben is sent to a juvenile offenders' unit for attacking Jordan Johnson and Louise returns to her mother, and then disappears after Lisa promises Phil can have contact at any time. Depressed, Phil starts a sexual relationship with drug addict Rainie Cross and starts using crack/cocaine, developing an addiction. Peggy locks him inside her home so he cannot have access to drugs, but he escapes and confronts Peggy, setting the pub on fire. Within minutes, the pub is ablaze and the roof collapses on Phil. He is rescued and Peggy leaves the next day, realising he is better off without her. Shirley supports Phil through recovery. They steal a large amount of money from Phil's cousin, Roxy Mitchell, to buy a house together. Roxy's mother, Glenda Mitchell finds out, and propositions Phil so they begin an affair. When Phil discovers Glenda has also had sex with Ian, he threatens to tell Ian's wife, Jane Beale, unless he pays him £5000. Phil's bullying of Ian almost costs him his life: when Ian finds Phil having a heart attack, he threatens to let him die but helps Phil for Ben's sake. Phil re-evaluates his life following his near-death experience and proposes to Shirley. Shirley initially accepts, but when she discovers Phil's infidelity with Glenda, she forgives him but refuses to marry. Phil reacts badly when he discovers Ben is gay, and makes it clear that he prefers Billy's foster son, Jay Brown. Jay likes spending time with Phil and changes his surname to Mitchell, becoming Phil's surrogate son. Ben secretly enacts revenge on Phil for this rejection, terrorising him with letters, implying he has evidence to incriminate Phil for past misdemeanours. Among other deeds, Ben sends Denise Fox evidence that Phil supplied the cut and shut car responsible for her husband, Kevin Wicks's, death in 2008. Denise's attempts to get Phil imprisoned fail; however, DCI Jill Marsden, who has had a vendetta against Phil for many years, investigates the allegations and Ben tells her that Phil forced Stella to jump from the roof in 2007. Phil is held on remand in prison on suspicion of Stella's murder and Ben delights in the distress he causes his father. Ian, however, is horrified by Ben's behaviour, and tells the police that Ben is lying; however, Ben thinks Heather Trott, Shirley's best friend, is responsible. Fearful and angry, Ben retaliates by murdering Heather just as Phil returns to confront him. Blaming himself for Ben's actions, Phil and Jay make the murder look like a burglary and spurns a grieving Shirley, allows his neighbours and family to become murder suspects, and bullies Ian into keeping quiet after Ben confesses to him. During her charity abseil on top of The Queen Victoria, Shirley proposes to Phil and he accepts. At their engagement party, Sharon returns, begging for help, as she has left her fiancé John Hewland at the altar and he has her son,Dennis Rickman Jr. Phil helps her to rescue Dennis and they return with Phil to Walford. When Phil gets home, he finds that Shirley knows the truth about Heather's death. After a furious confrontation, he tries to convince her not to tell the police but Ben confesses to the police and is charged with Heather's murder. Jay is charged with perverting the course of justice and Phil orders him to change his statement so Ben will not go to prison, but Jay refuses and Phil disowns him but does manage to convince his cousin, Roxy, to lie in her statement. His solicitor, Ritchie Scott, tells him that Ben could face a minimum of 10 years in prison. Shirley ends her relationship with Phil as she is unable to cope with his betrayal. Phil visits Ben in prison with Ian in the hope of persuading Ben to retract his confession but Ben refuses, insisting that he is doing the right thing as he needs to be punished. Ben refuses to have any contact with his family until his release. After Ben's departure, Phil bonds with Sharon's son, Dennis. When Billy's great-granddaughter, Lexi Pearce, is taken into care, Lexi's mother Lola tells Phil that Ben is Lexi's father and Phil is her grandfather. Lola agrees for Phil to have residence of Lexi and he suggests to Sharon that they pretend to be in a relationship to increase the chances of success, even though she is in a relationship with Jack Branning. They tell social workers that they are engaged but Shirley threatens to tell the truth, so Phil tells them the engagement is over. Phil is appointed Lexi's foster carer and ordered to arrange for Lola to visit Lexi three times a week but he immediately takes over, angering Lola by calling Lexi his baby, refusing to take presents that Lola buys for her and having her christened with the name Mitchell instead of Pearce. Phil and Jack become rivals when Phil tells Jack that he will be with Sharon by the end of the year, and Phil even proposes to Sharon, though she accepts Jack's proposal of marriage instead. When Phil offers Sharon an increase of her salary, and a 19% stake in club, Jack is not pleased and punches Phil, who falls into the vehicle pit in the garage. Jack thinks he has killed Phil, but Phil later arrives at the pub and announces Jack's guilt. Jack is arrested but Phil does not press charges after Sharon convinces him for her and Lexi's sake. At the court hearing to determine Lexi's future, Phil exposes Lola's lateness and temper during her scheduled meetings with Lexi, sabotaging her chances of winning Lexi back. He later tells Billy that Lola will never get Lexi back, which Lola overhears. She snatches Lexi from his house. Lola evades Phil, Billy and Sharon, until eventually they find her. Phil tells Social Services it is his fault for being too relaxed with Lola, but then allows Lola to look after Lexi while he goes out.